Help with Medical Bills Today: Avoid the Medical Debt Monster

This is an article from Suzanne Cramer, Social Media Specialist for Care One.

I have had my fair share of medical bills over the years.

Not because I didn’t have health insurance, but due to the rising cost of healthcare.

I always thought that having insurance meant you were “covered” should you need to see a doctor, a specialist, take medications or heaven forbid have surgery.

In my early twenties I never really took the time to look at my employee sponsored health insurance policy that I was paying for each month. After all, I was young and invincible right?

Wrong! When I hit twenty-eight I seemed to fall apart, two major surgeries in three years. The first set me back over $10k out of pocket, the next 12k. Before I even had the first medical emergency paid for I was hit with another.

But there’s another group of people that don’t have health insurance. If I struggled with having coverage how will these people deal with medical bills racked up over time?

Had I known then what I know now I would have had more emergency savings, healthcare options, and the where with all to negotiate with the medical providers.

So here’s the low down on government assistance, negotiating with your creditors and what happens if you don’t pay up.

Affordable Healthcare for All?

On March 23, 2010, President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act. The law put in place health insurance reforms that have been coming out over the past two years with more to come before 2014.

If you are a senior, Medicare and access to preventive services and prescription drug discounts.

If you are a business owner, new tax credits and programs for affordable health insurance plans.

This new law was put in effect to protect you. To ensure you are making the most of it, fully understand your consumer rights and how the law applies to you and your family.

Medicaid & CHIP

As a single mom of a child with special needs (My son is a Type 1 Diabetic) I take full advantage of the Medicaid program. An average month of diabetic supplies and doctors visits was costing me around $600 out of pocket.

I was drowning fast in medical bills and needed to see if there was help available for my son’s life-long expenses. Enter Medicaid.

Medicaid. After doing my homework I found that he was eligible for Medicaid based on his special needs. Depending on your income or a special exception like my son’s, you and your family may qualify for free or low-cost health insurance coverage through Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program(CHIP).

CHIP. The Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) provides health coverage if your income is too high to qualify for Medicaid, but you can’t afford private coverage.

I am thankful to be receiving Medicaid for my son and share as often as I can how this government program can help. Visit Medicaid.gov to see if you qualify.

Got Bills?

After receiving several consecutive medical bills I couldn’t afford I discovered a little known secret many people know nothing about—medical bills are negotiable. As I mentioned earlier I have always had health insurance, the problem is that it never seems to cover expenses 100%.

Here are a few tips for scoring a discount:

You won’t know until you try. My most recent experience with negotiation of a medical bill was just this year. I had to have an MRI of my back to diagnose yet another ruptured disc. My bill (after insurance) came to $875. I was able to negotiate payment in full with the hospital for $475. Not bad, that was almost 50% off my bill.

The importance of emergency savings or an (HSA) Health Savings Account. In order to obtain the above agreement I had to pay this amount in full. So while getting a discount of 50% is awesome, you have to be prepared to pay in full. That’s where having some emergency savings or money in an HSA becomes important.

Ask for a discount prior to being treated. If you know the procedure will be expensive discuss your payment options with the billing department beforehand. If you lack adequate insurance or don’t have insurance they may be sympathetic and agree to give you a discount.

Ask for a payment plan. If you are not in a position to negotiate or pay the bill in full ask for an interest free, payment plan. In most cases medical providers will agree to accept monthly payments until the bill is paid in full. Be sure not to agree to an arrangement you can’t afford. If you miss payments they may turn the account over to collections where additional fees and interest may be added.

Just because you arrange for a payment plan doesn’t mean you still can’t negotiate down the road. At anytime you can write a letter stating, “I’ve been paying this bill monthly for the past…I’ve paid to…to date, and my family is having a tough time during this economic crisis. Will you forgive the rest of the bill?” You just might be surprised with their answer.

You Didn’t Pay…Now What?

The debt collector calls. These folks can be ruthless be prepared for, phone calls and letters saying you must pay right now. Know your rights when it comes to collections; refer to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

Your credit. Just like credit card companies, medical providers may report your unpaid medical debt to the credit bureaus. If the provider sells the debt to a collection agency, that company may also report your unpaid bill on your credit report. Having these debts appear on your credit may hurt your credit score and limit your availability to obtain new credit.

By being proactive with your healthcare you can avoid being saddled with medical bills you can’t afford. Look into government assistance, obtain insurance to meet your needs, and if you can’t pay, ask for a discount or make a deal.

In the event you are stuck with bills you can’t afford consider your debt relief options. Don’t let medical bills hold you back from reaching your financial goals.

Have tip for those in need of help with medical bills? Leave it in the comments below.

Join 38,500 subscribers improving their financial life.

Subscribe for free. Get my book (31 Days to Improve Your Financial Life), intro series, and article digest.

Last Edited: January 31, 2017 @ 8:22 amThe content of ptmoney.com is for general information purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Visitors to ptmoney.com should not act upon the content or information without first seeking appropriate professional advice. In accordance with the latest FTC guidelines, we declare that we have a financial relationship with every company mentioned on this site.

Up Next...

Comments

After 20 years we find out that we are having another child with no health insurance and not offered any at our jobs we knew we wood have a huge bill. Our hospital gives a discount of 60 percent , but we still are having a hard time paying that ,after the doctor bill is paid every month ,we had to make a payment plan for that one, now we have the babies doctor bill and the lab bill and the odd and end bills that all add up. We are having a hard time making the bills for our house,how the hell are we suppose to pay all the bills and keep our house.I have tried to apply for everything I can and we make to much money so we’re shit out of luck.If we pay the doctor bills and the hospital bills than we can’t pay anything else.We will have to just pick and chose what bills to pay every week and hope we can get them all paid.There is no help for people that don’t have health insurance.

You can negotiate many hospital expenses. If you get a “no” from the first person who answers the phone then just ask for a supervisor. Go up the chain of command until find someone who will listen and work with you to reduce the bill. Also, go to an urgent care center whenever possible. It’s often much cheaper than a traditional emergency room but yet they treat many of the typical emergency room injuries. There are many state and private programs that will help pay your medical expenses. Uncle Sams Money Report has a list of them. You can search for Uncle Sams Money Report at Amazon.com

Hospitals also provide a certain amount of charity care for people who can’t afford to repay their medical bills. I think a lot of people make the mistake of ignoring bill payment requests. Many would be able to negotiate their bill down to little or nothing if they pulled their head out of the sand.

@Shawanda You are absolutely right! I had a girlfriend of mine burdened by bills from an extended hospital stay–she just kept ignoring the problem instead of asking for help or dealing with the situation period. My motto is “You never know unless you ask!”

Thanks for letting me know about this, Tom McCarthy. I’m sorry. Those can be annoying if not done technically right. It’s supposed to only show if you haven’t been to the site before and it’s supposed to be easy to close. I will fix the pop-up asap.

I would have liked to read the article, but the “like what you read?” pop up covered half of it, with the close box off the iPad screen. Moving to try and close it, just made it move too, and I never could get the “X” on screen to shut the damn thing off so I gave up on the article. Thanks anyway, maybe when I get to a PC I’ll try again.

No tips from me. It’s scary how quickly medical bills can pile up and sink your financial ship. I’m always sad that people often don’t evaluate their disability and health care options carefully until it’s too late.

Join 38,500 subscribers improving their financial life.

Sign up for free. Get our ebook (31 Days to Improve Your Financial Life), intro series, and article digest.

About PT

Hi, I'm Philip Taylor. I'm a husband, father, blogger, CPA, and entrepreneur. I love learning to do more with my money and sharing it all here with you. Join in on the conversation and start improving your financial life today. Read more...

Social

Disclosures:

The content of ptmoney.com is for general information purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Visitors to ptmoney.com should not act upon the content or information without first seeking appropriate professional advice.